The time between Thanksgiving and New Years is supposed to be about enjoying family and friends, but it can quickly devolve into a five week stress marathon. With holiday parties, family gatherings, traveling to see loved ones, and presents to buy the stress can pile on each day. One obvious remedy to the holiday madness is beer of course, and why not make those beers special and surprising? The key to a delicious daily dose of holiday calm is a Beervent Calendar!

Just like kids who have Advent Calendars that contain candy or stickers or little puffy sewn ornaments to put on a tree, adults deserve a daily treat in calendar form as well! Beervent, like Advent, runs from December 1 to December 24. There are pre-made calendars you can purchase, but there is little surprise with these. Why not take the opportunity to personalize a calendar for a friend, and be totally surprised by your own? In order to start your very own Beervent tradition, you just need a buddy and an agreement to provide a fully-stocked calendar for one-another.

The rules are simple:

●  Purchase 24 different beers for the 24 days of Beervent.

●  Each beer must be individually wrapped and labeled with the appropriate day.

●  You must unwrap AND drink the beers in the order in which they are labeled.

 **Note that you do not have to drink a beer each day.

●  You may unwrap one beer each day, but remember, you must drink the beers in order.

**This means that if you are on day 14 and you REALLY want to drink it, but still have beers 10-13, you must drink these ones first.

Gathering the beers is a several week endeavor. As the calendar must include 24 different beers, starting with a build-your-own 6 pack or two is a great kick off. If you’ve got a mixer pack in your fridge, grabbing one of each is an easy way to supplement the haul. Including a few special releases or beers available only from the brewery itself is a great treat as well. Finally, this is a pretty good way to clean out some of those “less desirable” beers that might be taking up some fridge space. When sandwiched between two delicious brews, what’s a little bubbly-corn-syrup-water mess around between friends?

There is an art to the order in which the beers are presented. The calendar should feel like a taste-rollercoaster with heavy and light, punchy and smooth flavors constantly changing from day to day. Attempting to separate similar beer styles is a key strategy. Finishing the calendar with a very special bomber or some kind of Christmas Ale is also a nice touch, being that beer number 24 should be opened (and hopefully drank) on Christmas Eve.

Once the beers are organized, wrapped, and labeled, there must be a handoff of the calendars. Each party brings their calendar (probably in a box or two) to a previously agreed upon place for the exchange. It’s important that this handoff is organized well in advance of December 1, because of the aforementioned commitments of life that often occur after Thanksgiving. Generally speaking, the week of Thanksgiving is a great time to meet up for a beer, and trade your calendars.

If you wish you had a little more Holiday Cheer, are seeking some small daily excitement during the holidays, or just miss being a kid and getting chocolate every day, find a friend and try making a Beervent Calendar!

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